Brock Tennyson of Howell, Colin Duffy of Pinckney and Nic Hoffman of Hartland were near the top of the leaderboard at the KLAA Association golf tournament. They came away confident heading into regionals next Thursday.
Bill Khan

Nic Hoffman shot 74, tying for third individually, to lead Hartland to the title in the KLAA Association golf tournament on May 23, 2017 at Bay Pointe Golf Club.(Photo: Bill Khan)

"I've known he can do it for a while," Pinckney coach Bruce Rabbitt said. "His older brother (Patrick) played four years for me. They live and breathe golf. I knew he had it in him. It was just a confidence thing. Hopefully, this will be the start for him."

Colin Duffy(Photo: Bill Khan)

It was a huge improvement after tying for 16th with an 84 in a smaller field at the 12-team Lakes Conference preseason tournament on April 17.

"I had a couple bad rounds in my matches, but it's great to start closing out the season on a good note," Duffy said. "I'm looking forward to regionals and states and playing well throughout."

Another Livingston County golfer who had a season-best round near the top of the leaderboard was Howell's Brock Tennyson. Tennyson shot 74 to tie Hartland's Nic Hoffman for third place.

Tennyson's best round before Tuesday was 79.

"I've been frustrated quite a bit this season," he said. "I played really well last year. For the results not to come, it was a little frustrating at the beginning, but it's golf."

Hartland prevailed in a three-way tie with Howell and Grand Bland on the basis of No. 5 golfer Blake Rose's 83. Howell was second and Grand Blanc third. Hartland has won the KLAA title two of the last three years, finishing second the other two years that the league held an association tournament.

"Goodness, that's incredibly close, isn't it?" Hartland coach Nathan Oake said. "It just shows the importance of every shot from every player on the course. We preach that all year and we preach, 'Never say quit.' This is exactly why."

A year ago, Hartland was on the wrong end of a tiebreaker for the third and final state-qualifying berth at regionals. Hartland will host the Division 1 regional at Dunham Hills Golf Club on June 1.

"You've got to fight for every shot," Hoffman said. "Every shot matters. One stroke can be the difference between you going through or going home."